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Hobgoblin
Who is the Hobgoblin? ' '''Roderick Kingsley started out as a fashion designer and billionaire, who had criminal underworld connections and had come about his wealth through unethical business practices and corporate raiding. Coincidentally, Kingsley was also the employer of Mary Jane Watson Mary Jane Watson for a time. As a means of avoiding the drill of day-to-day appearances, he had his timid identical twin brother Daniel pose as him to run his corporation day-by-day. Kingsley's activities gave him many enemies, one of which was Narda Ravanna, a rival fashion designer whose business he had ruined. Taking the identity of Belladonna, she attempted revenge on Kingsley but was twice thwarted by Spider-Man. After these incidents, Kingsley sought to protect himself and his empire by gaining more power. His chance came when a thug named George Hill discovered the secret lair of Norman Osborn. Hill reported his discovery to Kingsley in hopes of earning a reward, but instead Kingsley killed him to make sure that no one else got wind of the discovery. Upon examining the lair and gleaning the secrets within it, Kingsley decided to adopt the legacy of the Green Goblin almost in its entirety. Using the Green Goblin's equipment, Kingsley adopted the identity of the Hobgoblin (which should not be confused with the second Green Goblin, who was Harry Osborn). Soon after adopting this new identity, he first encountered Spider-Man as the Hobgoblin. His activities included using some of Norman Osborn's files on prominent figures to blackmail them, and attempting to buy Osborn's old corporation and merge it with his own.These schemes inevitably brought him into conflict with Spider-Man. Kingsley perceived Spider-Man as a nuisance and sought to eliminate him almost as an afterthought, rather than a principal goal. Kingsley also found among Norman's notes incomplete remnants of the strength enhancing potion of Norman Osborn. He became obsessed with finding the complete formula or perfecting the incomplete notes. In his various criminal activities Kingsley repeatedly lost to the web-slinger, as he lacked the raw physical power of Spider-Man. Persistent and extremely intelligent, Kingsley eventually recovered the strength-enhancing potion he sought. Being well aware that the formula had driven Osborn insane, Kingsley was not about to try it until he had tested it on someone else. He tricked a small-time hood in his employ, '''Lefty Donovan', into administering the formula and then used mind control to force Donovan to fight Spider-Man in the Hobgoblin costume. From a distance, Kingsley carefully monitored Donovan's vital signs and behavior. When Spider-Man overwhelmed and unmasked Donovan, and his brainwashing began to fail, Kingsley acted quickly to protect his identity by programming Donovan's glider to crash, instantly killing him. Though Donovan's tenure as a Hobgoblin was brief, he is considered the second Hobgoblin. Judging that the experiment was a success, Kingsley then immersed himself in his completed derivative of the Goblin formula and gained slightly greater strength than even the original Green Goblin had. He used this newfound strength to battle Spider-Man and the Black Cat. Now that he had become a physical match for Spider-Man, the Hobgoblin became more ambitious in his villainy. Despite his increased abilities, he was still narrowly defeated by Spider-Man. Worse still, he seemed to have attracted the attention of powerful criminal interests who perceived him as a threat, among these the infamous Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. After a bitter encounter with Spider-Man, Kingsley discovered he had been followed by Daily Bugle reporter Ned Leeds, who had discovered his lair. Kingsley captured Leeds and brainwashed him with hypnosis into becoming the third Hobgoblin, who acted in concert with Kingsley. Though Leeds lacked superhuman strength, he was effective in his role due to his investigative skills (in fact, he was more effective than the next Hobgoblin, even after Macendale acquired superhuman abilities). Kingsley also discovered that Leeds had been working with the Kingpin's son, Richard Fisk, on a plan to bring down the Kingpin and his empire. Richard Fisk had now adopted the identity of the Rose and posed as a crime lord. Kingsley used Leeds to handle some of the negotiations, fooling many into believing that Leeds was the Hobgoblin. He hoped to use the Kingpin's downfall as an opportunity to advance his own interests. During the events of Secret Wars II, Kingsley was recruited by Mephisto into his Legion Accursed, a team of ninety-nine supervillains who tried to destroy the Beyonder. The Hobgoblin later kidnapped Harry. He battled Osborn, who used his father's weaponry against the Hobgoblin. Kingsley is unmasked as the Hobgoblin. Art by Ron Frenz.After a retirement of several years, Kingsley returned to New York. He killed Macendale in his jail cell, declaring that he alone deserved the mantle of the Hobgoblin. Kingsley kidnapped Betty Brant and set a trap for Spider-Man. In the final fracas, Daniel Kingsley was captured and the Hobgoblin was unmasked, clearing Ned Leeds' name. Roderick Kingsley was taken to prison. Not long after his arrest, Kingsley took up the mantle of the Hobgoblin once more. Furious at the now returned Norman Osborn's denial of being the Green Goblin, Kingsley decided to spread rumours that there existed a secret journal of Osborn's that proved beyond a doubt that he was the Green Goblin (although this was a ruse: Kingsley himself had destroyed all of the journals years before). He offered to barter for his freedom with this information with the District Attorney, guessing that Norman Osborn would try to get to him first. As he anticipated, Osborn, deciding to make a deal with Kingsley, broke him out of prison. Kingsley was then confronted by both Osborn and the mysterious fifth Green Goblin. Osborn provided Kingsley with new Hobgoblin equipment, and both Goblins swooped in to collect Daniel Kingsley, now in protective custody, who, Roderick claimed, knew the location of the final journal. Spider-Man tried to defend Daniel, but was drugged, and both men were taken back to Norman Osborn. It was then that Osborn revealed the truth. He explained that he knew that Kingsley was lying about the journal and that he had completely bought Kingsley's company out from underneath him. Furious, Kingsley attacked, and a titanic battle between the two followed, Osborn as the Green Goblin, and Kingsley as the Hobgoblin. The building began to burn down as a result, and Spider-Man was barely able to safely escape with Daniel Kingsley. All three of the villains managed to escape as well; neither Goblin having managed to overcome or destroy the other. Osborn appeared to get the best of Kingsley with his corporate takeover. Yet, Kingsley still had several million dollars hidden away in foreign bank accounts, and quietly moved to a small island in the Caribbean to enjoy his retirement, although he did wonder to himself whether someday the Hobgoblin would return. Arnold Donovan Arnold "Lefty" Donovan was a petty thug working for Roderick Kingsley until he was exposed to the Goblin formula and became the second Hobgoblin. Ned Leeds Roderick Kingsley later brainwashes Ned Leeds, a reporter working for the Daily Bugle, to act as a stand in on many occasions and fool the underworld into thinking that Leeds is the Hobgoblin. He is later murdered by the Foreigner after Kingsley decides that he is no longer needed. Jason Macendale Around the time when the Rose and Hobgoblin's plan got out of hand, Kingsley wanted to escape from his identity. He was looking for a way out and decided to target Flash Thompson, a vocal advocate of Spider-Man who had insulted the Hobgoblin on national television that had incurred Kingsley's wrath. Kingsley attempted to frame Thompson as the Hobgoblin, so that his criminal enemies might target him instead. The plan was foiled through intervention of jason Macendale, who subsequently broke Thompson out of jail, thinking he was doing the Hobgoblin a favor. Jason Philip Macendale Jr. was a mercenary who had been trained by the CIA and various para-military organizations, and was known in his costumed identity as Jack O' Lantern. When Macendale discovered that Thompson was not the Hobgoblin, Kingsley grew furious, as he had planned to operate "under the radar" while Thompson was in custody; this began a long-running feud between Kingsley and Macendale when the two battled for the first time. Thompson was ultimately exonerated and released. When the Kingpin temporarily abdicated his role at the head of organized crime on the eastern seaboard, the resulting gang war tore New York apart. During the conflict the Hobgoblin and the Rose had a falling out, with the latter ordering the former's assassination as he had become too dangerous. The Hobgoblin sold the Rose's identity to the Kingpin in exchange for information that would aid Leeds in a story, thus reinforcing the illusion of the latter's identity. Also, during the conflict both Hobgoblin and Jack O' Lantern were badly injured and forced to separately retreat. Shaken by the battle, Jack O' Lantern felt he needed to seek another way to destroy his enemy. The Hobgoblin took one more attempt at killing Harry Osborn, and poisoned both Osborn and Spider-Man. Hoping to give another try at escaping from his identity, Kingsley leaked word to the underworld that Leeds was the Hobgoblin. Taking this information, Macendale paid the supervillain known as the Foreigner to take Leeds out. On an overseas assignment with Peter Parker, Leeds was murdered in his hotel room. As Spider-Man, Peter was later told by the Kingpin that Leeds had been the Hobgoblin and shown a series of photos of the assassination. Although known in parts of the underworld, this information did not become public until many years later when Macendale revealed it at the end of his trial. For many years Leeds was considered to be the original Hobgoblin. Kingsley's plan had worked: his enemies thought they had killed the Hobgoblin and now he could take his ill-gotten gains and retire to Belize. This paved the way for Macendale to take up the role, an unforeseen development that eventually forced Kingsley to come out of retirement and kill Macendale in order to protect his secret identity, as Macendale had enough information to possibly lead the authorities to discover the true identity of the Hobgoblin. Ultimate Hobgoblin In the Ultimate universe, Harry Osborn is the rich son of Norman Osborn who meets and befriends Peter Parker. Norman eventually subjects himself to the Oz Formula, and he becomes the Green Goblin. He kills his wife, and attempts to kill Harry. Harry is placed into the custody of his uncle, but he eventually returned to his father and brainwashed by Miles Warren to forget the previous events. During another battle with Spider-Man, Harry stops his father, and he is taken into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody. He is later used as a bargaining piece to negotiate with Norman. Harry begins to blame everyone around him for the situation, and a second personality introduced by his father after many years of hypnotic therapy, Shaw, begins to take control. He eventually consumes the serum and becomes the Hobgoblin. Harry tries to stop himself during a battle with Spider-Man, but Shaw takes over and he is wounded by S.H.I.E.L.D. He is once again used by S.H.I.E.L.D. to attract his father, but the two end up doing battle, which leaves Harry dead. Norman is then "killed" by S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers at his own request. Peter later honors Harry with a speech about him being a good friend and a true hero. Category:Villains